Higher-order adaptive finite-element methods for orbital-free density functional theory

Abstract: In the present work, we investigate the computational efficiency afforded by higher-order finite-element discretization of the saddle-point formulation of orbital-free density functional theory. We first investigate the robustness of viable solution schemes by analyzing the solvability conditions of the discrete problem. We find that a staggered solution procedure where the potential fields are computed consistently for every trial electron-density is a robust solution procedure for higher-order finite-element discretizations. We next study the numerical convergence rates for various orders of finite-element approximations on benchmark problems. We obtain close to optimal convergence rates in our studies, although orbital-free density-functional theory is nonlinear in nature and some benchmark problems have Coulomb singular potential fields. We finally investigate the computational efficiency of various higher-order finite-element discretizations by measuring the CPU time for the solution of discrete equations on benchmark problems that include large Aluminum clusters. In these studies, we use mesh coarse-graining rates that are derived from error estimates and an a priori knowledge of the asymptotic solution of the far-field electronic fields. Our studies reveal a significant 100-1000 fold computational savings afforded by the use of higher-order finite-element discretization, alongside providing the desired chemical accuracy. We consider this study as a step towards developing a robust and computationally efficient discretization of electronic structure calculations using the finite-element basis.